In his first press conference for 2017, Turnbull told reporters the government believes the work expenses of parliamentarians, including ministers, should be administered and overseen by an independent agency.

The system that manages entitlements will be modernised to allow monthly disclosure of parliamentarians' expenses in an accessible, searchable, format;

The body will be governed by an independent board, and is to include an experienced auditor, a person with wide experience in remuneration matters, the president of the remuneration tribunal, a former judicial officer and a former MP.

The independent parliamentary expenses authority will be a compliance, reporting and transparency body which will monitor and adjudicate all claims by MPs, senators and ministers.

"It is very important to remember that there are 226 members of the House, engaged in public service, all of them seeking, in my view -- in my sincere view, all of them seeking to do the right thing by the people of Australia," Turnbull said.

"What you find with these issues is often the result of mistake, it is often the result of errors of judgement, but above all, what we need to do is ensure that the Australian people are satisfied, satisfied beyond any shadow of doubt, that Parliamentarians are spending their expenses appropriately."